Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Ms Nolan to the committee. I concur with the comments on the seriousness of the situation. It is one of the greatest movements of people that I have witnessed in my lifetime. We are not on the front line. We are part of the European community but other countries are very much on the front line. I agree that we have a moral obligation as a member of the European Union to play our part in the crisis.

Ms Nolan stated that for the past year the Commission considered there would be a refugee crisis in 2015 or at least there would be a flow of refugees. What is her best information on the medium-term to long-term future of the refugee crisis? Does she anticipate that this time next year, whoever is on this committee will still be discussing the flow of migration? Is there any information in that regard?

I concur with what the Chairman said about Syria. The information is that up to half the population of Syria has been displaced either internally or to refugee centres in neighbouring countries and the European Union. The issue must be tackled but that is beyond the remit of the committee. In most situations one has good guys and bad guys but it is difficult to distinguish between the two. It is a question of who is worse in terms of the Assad regime or ISIS. It is a very difficult situation for Syria. What are the prospects of an end to the displacement of people from there and for the situation in the area to settle down?

We are not a party to the Schengen Agreement but the pressure on it is mounting as the situation continues to develop.